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About MASSPIRG

MASSPIRG FIGHTS FOR THE PUBLIC­—MASSPIRG Executive Director Janet Domenitz testifying before the legislative committee considering the Updated Bottle Bill, urging lawmakers to stand with the public instead of siding with the beverage and bottling industries, and to vote to update the commonwealth's most sucessful recycling program.

An Independent Voice For Consumers

MASSPIRG is a consumer group that stands up to powerful interests whenever they threaten our health and safety, our financial security or our right to fully participate in our democratic society.

Since 1972, we’ve stood up for consumers, countering the influence of big banks, insurers, chemical manufacturers and other powerful special interests.

For more than 30 years, Executive Director Janet Domenitz has fought to make Massachusetts healthier and more sustainable. By updating the Bottle Bill, we can keep an extra billion bottles from being buried and burned every year. >LEARN MORE

KEEP MASS ON TRACK

We won more federal money for high-speed rail in New England, and we organized the public to convince the legislature to limit fare hikes and service cuts on the T. >LEARN MORE

REINING IN WALL STREET

After the financial crisis, we spearheaded the fight to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which recently forced Capital One to pay back $140 million in unfair credit card fees to consumers. >LEARN MORE

PROTECTING CONSUMERS

Our toy safety reports and lab research have led to recalls of more than 150 toxic or dangerous toys, and our advocates have pushed to keep toxic chemicals out of all consumer products.>LEARN MORE

MASSPIRG takes on powerful interests on behalf of consumers in Massachusetts, working to win concrete results for our health, safety and financial security. Since 1972, we’ve been a voice for consumers, countering the influence of big banks, insurers, chemical manufacturers and other powerful special interests. Our team of researchers uncovers the facts; our staff bring our findings to the public, through the media as well as one-on-one interactions; and our advocates bring the voice of the public to the halls of power on behalf of consumers.

MASSPIRG And The Federation Of State Public Interest Research Groups

MASSPIRG is an independent, state-based, citizen-funded organization that advocates for the public interest and is a member of U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups.

Since 1970, state PIRGs have delivered results-oriented citizen activism, stood up to powerful special interests, and used the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, advocacy and litigation to win real results on issues that matter.

Across the country, state PIRGs employ close to 400 organizers, policy analysts, scientists and attorneys, and are active in 47 states, with a federal lobby office in Washington, D.C. On national issues that impact Bay Staters, we also coordinate our efforts, pool resources, and share expertise so that we can have the biggest impact — here in Massachusetts and for the country at large.

MASSPIRG Staff — A Partial List

MASSPIRG is an advocate for the public interest. When consumers are cheated, or the voices of ordinary citizens are drowned out by special interest lobbyists, MASSPIRG speaks up and takes action. We uncover threats to public health and well-being and fight for the public interest.

Funded By Our Citizen Members

Thousands of MASSPIRG members and supporters fund our staff so we can counter the influence of powerful special interests. We conduct the research, educate the public, and advocate in the public's interest by making our case face-to-face with elected officials.

We are a leading member of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition that was instrumental in the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by Congress in 2010. The CFPB is currently working on a rule to reign in the payday lending industry. We, along with AFR, are working to make sure the rule is a strong one.

Many Americans are walking around with a balance on their credit card because of high interest rates, or annual percentage rate (APR) charges for unpaid balances. It's best to pay off your balance in full but if you don't or can't, a higher APR makes your debit grow faster. What most people don’t realize is this APR can be negotiated to a lower rate.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is the Flint pediatrician who led the charge in proving that Flint water was tainted by lead and was poisoning the community. Without her drive and dedication to the children of Flint, it is hard to say how long government officials might have left the public in the dark about the mounting crisis. In honor of Women’s History Month we’re recognizing Dr. Hanna-Attisha -- a doctor, mother, and activist -- who has relentlessly fought for the public interest.

Earlier this month, the EPA formally proposed a long-awaited rule on chemical plant safety in response to an executive order issued in 2013 by President Obama, which called on several agencies, including the EPA to modernize their chemical plant safety rules. The new proposed rule triggered a 60-day public comment period, and with it, a public hearing in Washington, D.C., where Legislative Director Jerry Slominski gave the following statement for U.S. PIRG:

New executive order on antibiotics takes several important steps necessary to control the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it misses the opportunity to call for critical reforms in the agricultural sector that are essential to protect public health.

Today, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order – Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria. While the order takes several important steps necessary to control the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it misses the opportunity to call for critical reforms in the agricultural sector that are essential to protect public health.

“Today’s vote in the U. S. Senate was a milestone in the fight to reclaim our democracy. The 2010 Citizens United decision unleashed a tide of big money from mega-donors and super PACs into our elections, and it has threatened to drown out the voices of ordinary Americans..."

Conflicts of interest and lack of independent funding have doomed both the national and state level accounting oversight systems in the United States. The state accounting boards and the network of overlapping, mostly self-regulatory federal accounting overseers act as classic regulators, serving management instead of serving investors and taxpayers.

Across the nation, over 1,000 people are killed and 3,000 injured as a result of cigarette fires each year. These fires cause more than $400 million in property damage. In Massachusetts alone in 2000, 1,280 fires were attributed to cigarettes. Those fires killed 17 people, injured 81 civilians, and wounded 61 firefighters in the line of duty. Insurers and property owners lost over $9.3 million due to the same blazes. Despite igniting 5% of the 24,931 reported fires in 2000, cigarette fires killed 17 civilians, or 22% of all civilian fires deaths

In 2006, Massachusetts became a model for the nation when we enacted a law that expanded access to health care. Our success will unravel, however, if we fail to reverse the trend of rising health care costs that are now among the highest in the nation.

MASSPIRG calls on Senate to defeat Pharma supported amendments to state budget which will roll back the prescription drug gift ban and prohibition on prescription drug marketing coupons. MASSPIRG praises the inclusion of the academic detailing program in the Senate budget which, acting as a counter balance to industry marketing, provides unbiased, data supported information to physicians about prescription drugs and best practices for their use.

The resolution calls upon the United States Congress to pass, and send to the states for ratification, a constitutional amendment to restore the First Amendment and fair elections to the people. The impetus for this resolution was a decision issued by the United States Supreme Court in January 2010 which basically allowed for unlimited, as well as untraceable, corporate money in our electoral campaigns.